The Curran Sea

Dreams

The phone rang. It was a triple encrypted landline/cell tower hybrid, untraceable and anonymous. You had to do some fancy shenanigans to even call it, but their mother's cell phone had it stored behind several password encrypted screens.
   Nero was the only one who'd figured it out.
   "I'm at a sleepover, can't talk long. Can I talk to Jamie?"
   Judah handed the phone to the youngest ambulatory male in the house, brows raised. "What's up, Near?"
   "I... It's too weird, but Norris and I had this dream, and I think Nina did too, only she won't admit it--"
   "Mermaids," Jamie said flatly. "We know."
   There was a long silence. "Can I come down there? Nina's getting scary, and Norris won't talk about it. Meemaw and Papaw get less coherent every day, so I can't get them to listen to basic stuff; let alone..." He audibly gulped. "Mermaids."
   Jamie had put him on speakerphone, so Judah heard the request. "We haven't the room, Nero. Your siblings are on the living room--"
   "Papa?" he squeaked.
   Judah mouthed the word "shit". Any Curran who saw mouthed "language", with varying levels of amusement. He'd forgotten that the triplets were the same age as his son, and Cora and Cara. They would have some long-buried memory of their voice, the Curran men.
   "Right template, wrong man, I'm afraid."
   Nero sniffled. "But you look like him, and sound like him?"
   Judah realized, then, that he was the only surviving visual record of Ibrahim, on their world. With them ostensibly dead, Arthur and Samuel wouldn't need to leave the alien planet. He hoped they got to visit, for fresh air. The thought of being stuck in unfamiliar environs, without feeling the sea air, was saddening.
   "Yes, I do. I am not, however, the same man. We have lived very different lives, Nero. I am married, with a child of my own, and..." He gulped. "Possibly more in the future."
   The nearest Curran/Smith children squeezed his arm, or leg, in mute sympathy. They knew how hard the clones had worked, to get free of the very life staring them down the barrel. It was part of the reason Shawn had volunteered as not-tribute.
   "I'm not very big. Neither is Norris. We got Mom's build. You know our mom? Kn... knew her?"
   Even Orla had tears in her eyes.
   "I have..." He looked around, for help with the words. "We've met." His eyes dropped to his white-knuckled fists. His wife clasped one, Mary the other.
   "And you know my brothers and sister," he wheedled.
   "Nero, it is not safe for us to return. I gather your siblings told you how hard your mother worked to hide us?"
   "Yes, sir," the boy said sadly.
   "I can drive," Shawn said. He couldn't take it anymore. Nero and Norris didn't have Nina's hard outer shell. They had, ironically, struggled less to live. It was like she had to make up for her near-death infancy, by bossing everyone around, and controlling anything she could.
   "Where would they live?" Jamie asked. "We were only supposed to be visiting--" He broke off, averted his eyes too quickly.
   And you weren't planning on leaving, Judah thought. The bluster about not taking the islands, only visiting sometimes, was just that. They'd used their legal legs to stand right on the Isles, and never get around to leaving.
   He peeked through his lashes--inherited from Ibrahim--to see if Puppa had caught his slip. His eyes dropped, when he knew that he had.
   "There's a bit of a hiccup, Near. Those mermaids want us living in the sea."
   "Not living," Orla corrected. "Only... serving..." Her blush rose again.
   "Okay," he said, drawing out the word. "We still don't have another house."
   "We're boatbuilder's grandsons!" Jamie beamed. "We could build one!"
   Judah scrubbed his face, brow to beard, roughly. "There are others to consult," he groaned.
   "Oh yeah, I didn't ask Norris if he wanted to live on the beach."
   The adult facepalmed. Audibly. "I was referring to your half siblings, boy. The other adults who would be in charge of you. I do not own the Isles. I cannot make decisions unilaterally."
   "For what it's worth," his bracer scrawled, and vibrated to alert him of the words, "I wouldn't mind the challenge of expanding. We're gonna have to, anyway, if the boys take Halcyon up on his offer. I dunno about you, but I don't wanna hear Alfie... you know."
   "One vote has been cast, it seems," he rumbled. "I will ask the rest. Please hold." He tapped "mute", covered his face, and screamed into his hands.
   "Not much of a hiding place, we get any bigger," Jonah agreed.
   "They've only got one more year 'til they're adults," Mary said quietly. "How bad is it at Meemaw and Papaw's?"
   It was a toss up whether Judah was the most reluctant, or Ibrahim. Edison had already voted for it. Liam and Pierre were only game if they built another house first. Cora and Cara were split, as were Andrew and Aiden. Alfred said it was up to his dad. Jonah had expressed his reservations, tipping the scales in favor of nay, but the Smith children were split two to one.
   It was a dead heat. Not even his own siblings could sway the majority to his side.
   "I don't suppose you've got any input?" Judah asked his wife.
   "I... It is not my..." He squeezed her hand. "Oh. I suppose it is, now." She was quiet, for a time. "If it is information you require, young Mary, about their living situation, I can... in dreams... peek into their surface thoughts. I would rather not go deeper. That is my sister's forte."
   "So, if it's as bad as Nina says, we build a house, but if they're just being dramatic, they stay put?" Of course, it was Shawn who laid out their cards so bluntly.
   "If it is my advice you seek, then yes. I make no assertions, I only give you tools to decide."
   Shawn unmuted. "Hey, the mermaid lady's gonna visit again tonight. That okay?"
   Nero squeaked.